Thanks to an assist from another set of Wildcats, Arizona may have a chance to land atop the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time in nearly a decade with a win overΒ Colgate on Saturday at McKale Center.
Northwestern upset No. 1 Purdue in overtime on Friday night in Evanston, Ill., presumably leaving the top spot open for No. 2 Arizona (6-0) in voting that will be announced Monday morning.
Arizona and Purdue will face each other on Dec. 16 in Indianapolis, though the Boilermakers still must play Iowa and Alabama before then. The Wildcats are scheduled to host Colgate on Saturday and Wisconsin on Dec. 9 before heading to Indianapolis.
No. 4 UConn might have had an argument for the top spot next week if it pulled out a win at Kansas on Friday but the Jayhawks hung on for a 69-65 win over the defending national champions in Lawrence, Kan. At 7-1, with only a loss to No. 3 Marquette, Kansas appears to have the top resume along teams who have been beaten.
Among other unbeaten teams, Houston improved to 7-0 after beating Xavier on Friday while two other 7-0 teams are scheduled to play Saturday: No. 9 Baylor (vs Northwestern State) and No. 20 Colorado State (7-0, vs Washington in Las Vegas).Β
In addition, TCU is 6-0 entering a game at Georgetown on Saturday while No. 25 Oklahoma will carry a 7-0 mark into a game with Providence on Tuesday.Β
Arizona was last ranked No. 1 for eight weeks during the middle of the 2013-14 season before losing at California. In what turned out to be the high point of the Sean Miller era, the Wildcats won the Pac-12 that season and reached the Elite Eight; they repeated both accomplishments in 2014-15, when their rankings ranged between 2-10.
Before that, the Wildcats hadn't been ranked No. 1 since 2002-03, when they were ranked No. 1 in the preseason and also held the top spot for 12 weeks during the regular season. UA reached the Elite Eight that season before losing to Kansas.
UA also held the top spot in the AP poll during several other seasons during the Lute Olson era: In 2000-01 (a season that ended in the NCAA title game), 1997-98 (Elite Eight), 1988-89 (Sweet 16) and 1987-88 (Final Four).
In their national championship season of 1996-97, the Wildcats rose no higher than No. 6. The AP Top 25 poll is not conducted after the NCAA Tournament begins.
